Two Weeks Done!!

I think this pretty much covers the last two weeks. I apologize for not keeping the blog more current, but there is only so many minutes in a day and I chose to use them doing something else.

Mom started her third week of treatment last Friday, April 24th. These last two weeks some side effects have shown up. Her appetite is gone and food has begun to taste poorly. She says that even Diet Coke taste bad and that is absolute proof to me that radiation has affected her taste buds. She also was having a hard time sleeping because her mouth and throat have begun to hurt, the ethyol injection along with the chemo has made mom very nauseous, she has a severe lack of saliva and swallowing her medication has become difficult.

Now the solutions:

For the pain the doctor has given her something a little stronger in a liquid form that really helps her sleep. Except on Friday night when I woke up and she was in an absolute full panic attack. She was breathing very heavily and told me that her whole body hurts. When I asked her exactly where it hurt she looked at me funny and said "It hurts because I'm having a baby". Then she paused a moment and said "I hope I'm dreaming". It was a little funny, I assured her that she was in fact dreaming, we decreased the dose and she has slept well the last two nights.

For nausea the doctor has put her on three different meds. It took me a few days to get all the meds and the dosage instructions, but now they are taped to the front her medicine box if anyone taking care of her needs to give them to her. The meds unfortunately are very expensive (up to $150 a pill) however, Karen was able to get some samples of the most expensive medication from her oncology doc in Corvallis and the TCCC gave mom another 2 weeks worth, so that covers the rest of treatment for one of the meds. The meds seem to be working pretty well for nausea, but unfortunately can’t make food taste better or help increase her appetite.

Over last weekend she didn’t eat any solid food and drank hardly anything. I became enemy #1 when I fed her through the PEG tube after a day with her intake being only 400 calories. She met with Dr. Giever today and has lost 4lbs since last Monday so he has put her on tube feeding diet only since she isn’t able to get adequate nutrition. After radiation we met with the nutritionist and made a plan. She told mom to look at food in the same way as her medications in that they are necessary and need to follow a set schedule. This is because not meeting her nutritional needs will cause stoppages in treatment which will only prolong her discomfort. She gave us almost 2 cases (47 cans) of formula, more syringes and gauze 2x2’s. Mom will need 6-7 cans of formula a day and also plenty of water through the PEG tube if she is unable (unwilling) to drink water. She was prescribed Glucerna 1.5 which is specially designed for diabetics to help control blood sugar levels and is more concentrate than what is available over the counter which means fewer cans. Luckily Medicare and AARP will cover the cost of the formula completely and mom now has the lowest grocery bill since the time she was breastfed.

Today, Dr. Geiver noticed that the insides of mom’s cheeks are beginning to show the effects of radiation which explains why her mouth is uncomfortable. He told her to use salt water rinse/gargles to prevent thrush and to take her dentures out whenever she is at home. He told her she could wear them in public FOR NOW, but she can’t chew food with them and definitely shouldn’t sleep with them in. I noticed over the weekend while mom was napping on the couch that she sucks on them while she is sleeping. She looked as sweet as a tiny sleeping baby who makes the sucking motion even after the pacifier/bottle has fallen out of their mouth. All that sucking of her dentures will eventually cause sores which can lead to infection. This is the side effect that is most alarming for mom, but once we got home from radiation she took them out. I think she is trying to prolong the time that she can still wear them in public.